Is your car alarm system safe enough? [Sponsored]

The car alarm system is probably the most conflicting part of your car. Designed to prevent car theft by attracting concerned onlookers with a noise, it does more to annoy everybody in the neighbourhood than anything else.

Just because we know that 99% of times it goes off accidentally either triggered by the vibration of passing vehicles, car’s electric system glitch or simply a bird, we don’t take car alarms seriously. So, are alarm systems capable of protecting your car from thieves? Tyres-guru.co.uk, the UK’s online tyre and spare parts retailer, explains why car alarms are still on the market.

What’s wrong with car alarms?

The main problem with a car alarm system is that its sensors detect and react to any jostling occurring around the vehicle and don’t discern whether it is a thief trying to unlock the car or simply a passer-by making its way through the row of parked cars. In all 99% of the time, an alarm goes off when the car isn’t even being stolen.

Probably, when the “Automobile Theft Preventer” was first patented back in 1919, a siren was a rarity and really attracted and concerned onlookers. Today, in big cities, when you hear hundreds of such sirens day and night, when you work and when you sleep, your reaction is just “Oh, please, shut up!”

A study conducted by US company Transportation Alternatives shows that 95% people feel indifferent when they hear a car alarm and that 59% of them would more readily report it as an annoying siren rather than the theft of a car.

A main problem with a car alarm system is that its sensors detect and react to any jostling occurring around the vehicle and don’t discern whether it is a thief trying to unlock the car or simply a passer-by

Car alarm installers claim that most of today’s alarms (be they $1000-worth or only $30-worth) can be disabled by a professional thief in 10 seconds. But not only do thieves know how your car’s security measure can be bypassed. Some tow-truck drivers know how to unlock a car without making a beep or start it without keys. It’s a part of their job.

Why are car alarms still in demand?

If car alarms are so unreliable and useless, why install them?

As hackers are always upgrading their skills, so should we do the same with our car security systems. If we stop upgrading our car protection measures, one day, even a small boy next door will be able to unlock your car.

The thing is, car alarms still work against less experienced thieves that act spontaneously. It’s the simplest thing you can have in your car to get it protected. So any car alarm is always better than nothing.

This is why car manufacturers keep equipping new cars with car alarm systems which have become increasingly more sophisticated.

Immobilisers, which consist of a key for the car owner’s pocket and a base station fitted into the car, have shown great results in making efforts of thieves useless. Even if they manage to get inside your car, they won’t be able to move it from its place.